Rangers: What do the Scottish Premiership club need in a successor to Steven Gerrard?
- Published
Steven Gerrard leaves Rangers as Scottish champions and top of the Premiership table
Title-winning manager Steven Gerrard has packed up and departed abruptly for Aston Villa - so what now for Rangers?
While Gerrard's three-and-a-half-year tenure brought a much-coveted Scottish Premiership crown last season, the club can't afford to wallow in misty-eyed memories.
With a four-point lead over a revitalised Celtic, and a League Cup semi-final against Hibernian looming next weekend, Rangers are seeking a new manager to fulfil their ambitions on the domestic and European stage.
Van Bronckhorst looks the standout choice
Rangers' most pressing need is abundantly clear - retain the title. If stopping Celtic's bid for 10 in a row last season was momentous, then this term is just as significant, with the Premiership winners likely gaining direct entry to the Champions League group stage and the riches it brings.
Gerrard was a box-office coup at Ibrox, bringing an aura and reputational heft that carried weight in the dressing room and helped to secure transfer targets.
The favourite to replace him, Giovanni van Bronckhorst, is a name of clout too. He has the added lustre of being a former Rangers favourite who would be widely welcomed by the support and ticks the box of title-winning experience.
The Dutchman has proved adept in management, steering Feyenoord to two cup triumphs either side of breaking the Ajax-PSV Eindhoven duopoly to end the Rotterdam club's 18-year championship wait in 2017.
Having followed that four-year tenure with a season at Guangzhou R&F in the Chinese Super League, finishing 11th, Van Bronckhorst is available and reportedly keen, external on an Ibrox return.
In the same vein of storied former players, who know the club inside out and already have a bond with the fans, might Gennaro Gattuso come into the reckoning?
The Italian, who brought ferocious presence to Rangers' midfield under Walter Smith, is also out of work and has managed huge clubs - AC Milan and Napoli, where he won a Coppa Italia.
Russell Martin is also among the early frontrunners, with the 35-year-old ex-Ibrox loanee forging an impressive reputation in English football with MK Dons and now Swansea City.
That said, reports on Thursday, external suggested the former Scotland centre-back was not in the mix.
Stop-gap or Scottish experience?
If looking closer to home, Derek McInnes has an abundance of Scottish football experience and his case could be enhanced if Rangers opt for an interim appointment, even if he turned his former team down not so long ago.
The club have recent history of doing just that - Graeme Murty filled in after the departures of Pedro Caixinha and Mark Warburton, while Kenny McDowall and then Stuart McCall did likewise after Ally McCoist's departure.
While Rangers fans would likely be unenthused at the prospect of a manager thrown aside after eight years at Aberdeen taking the reins, McInnes could represent a steady hand to smooth instability.
St Johnstone's Callum Davidson has mastered the knack of domestic cup success which eluded Gerrard, who reached just one final in his reign.
Davidson won both the League and Scottish Cup at the first attempt, but is only in his second season as a manager and Rangers would represent a huge step up.
Both McInnes and Davidson both know how to tighten a defence, an area where improvement is required.
Will Connor Goldson and Alfredo Morelos be at Rangers next season?
Rangers lost bad goals at crucial times over Gerrard's first two seasons and though his third campaign was near flawless at the back, this term has been a struggle. In 23 outings in all competitions this season, Rangers have lost the opening goal 11 times.
A short-term fix, though, would add to the uncertainty at Ibrox where stalwarts Connor Goldson, Steven Davis, Scott Arfield and Allan McGregor will all be into the final six months of their deals come January.
By next summer, players such as Alfredo Morelos, Joe Aribo and Filip Helander will have 12 months left and forward planning and powers of persuasion will be key.
Another left-field appointment?
Rangers have shown they aren't averse to risk. Gerrard had no top-level coaching experience when he was plucked from Liverpool's academy and given the keys to Ibrox back in May 2018.
Dave King was the chairman who made that bold appointment, but will incumbent Douglas Park and sporting director Ross Wilson follow suit with another left-field choice?
Celtic took that route with the arrival of Ange Postecoglou as manager this summer, and it's not working out too badly as his reinvention of Rangers' Old Firm rivals takes shape.
Kevin Thomson's credentials aren't too dissimilar to Gerrard's back in 2018. The one-time Rangers midfielder started his coaching career in the Ibrox youth ranks and now has Kelty Hearts top of Scottish League 2 in his first job as a manager.
Or how about Duncan Ferguson, the ex-Ibrox striker and current Everton assistant? Life certainly wouldn't be dull with 'Big Dunc' back in the Scottish game.
The list of other potential contenders runs on and on, from Frank Lampard and John Terry to Ronald Koeman and Andre Villas-Boas.
A does of realism is required, though. Rangers need a manager who will be happy to work on a tight budget, for now at least.
Having recently posted a loss of £23.5m, with around £7.5m needed to get through the campaign, the club won't be splashing out huge sums as they chase next summer's coveted Champions League bounty.